16
Chapter Sixteen
SIN
Patrols swarm the office, but they all stop short when they take in the scene. “Your bosses are dead,” I tell them matter-of-factly, void of emotion. “If you want any hope of living a normal life again, join forces with me,” I say, sounding drunk, drugged, deranged.
“You’re our goddamn hero, man,” Locke says. “They destroyed this country and we had no choice but to follow or end up out there with the Juliets.”
“I need to know everything you all know. And I need to know how to help Reese.”
“I was a Biological Chemical Warfare specialist,” Locke says. “I can try to help her, but I’m not sure anything can be undone.” He steps out in front of the group and removes his biohazard suit, revealing a man who couldn’t be much older than me. “We can all take these off now. The toxin doesn’t spread the way we were told it did. Reese, our Juliet—patient zero, was, in fact, the guinea pig. The solvent between the chemicals your mother mixed into Reese’s bloodstream created a toxin that could only be transported by the combination of two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen, in turn providing the perfect carrying source of fresh-water to infect more than three-quarters of the population. Filtration systems couldn’t even detect the toxin since your mother made it appear almost identical to H2O.”
All of the patrols are staring at Locke in silence. “We thought you were a dumbass,” one of them says.
“Nah, it’s the quiet ones who are the geniuses,” another says.
They all begin removing their biohazard suits. They all look similar, military builds with shaved heads.
“We were all Marines,” another one says. “Well, except him,” they point to a tall blonde guy. “He’s a Navy medic.”
“I have to be honest,” Locke says. “I’m not sure I know how to help her but I will do what I can.”
“I can help, too,” the medic says. “We’ll at least see what we can do to prolong her life.”
“Reese was injected with a mind-numbing agent when you both arrived here with the Chipley troops. It should wear off within an hour. When she’s fully coherent, we’ll examine her so we have a better idea of whether or not we can help. The toxin in her bloodstream is a little different than the Juliets’ outside of this bunker, so it’s difficult to know exactly how to help without taking a closer look.” The barrage of information they are all offering up is making my head spin, but I’ve picked up on the key points—they want to help Reese and the state she is in right now is only temporary. I want to shake her until she snaps out of it, but I know better than to rouse her from whatever subconscious place she might be in. She’s a Juliet and I had no idea. She doesn’t act like some of those mongrels we came across, so I’m still not a hundred percent convinced it is true.
Looking back...there were moments, though, moments that could prove some truth. Yesterday, when I woke Reese up, she didn’t know who I was. She also experienced hallucinations and the desire to eat flesh. Although, I have encountered the same symptoms on occasion.
“Do the people of Chipley have the same toxin in their bloodstream?” I need to know if their answers differ from Mom’s.
“No, the hormones in the food were chemically mimicking the Juliet Toxin so the Chipley residents could combat those who were actually infected.”
“Why cause a war when she could have infected all of the prisoners of Chipley in the first place?” I ask, wondering if there was actual logic behind her plan or just plain madness.
“Her plan failed,” Locke says. “Her intention was for every Juliet to self-destruct. The only smart thing she did was have a backup plan involving prisoners who could be used as disposable combatants if her plan disintegrated. Things went badly, leaving a significant number of Juliet victims alive but deranged;, hence her Plan B. People shouldn’t play with science unless they are one hundred percent confident in the results.” In other words, Mom is a fucking moron. I could have told everyone that.
“As soon as the prisoners eat normal, and non-chemically treated food, they will be okay. However, your mother’s idea was to execute each one of the prisoners of Chipley once the Juliets were all dead...including Reese.”
“What’s going on?” Reese asks in a hazy, hoarse voice. I run to her side, peeling her off the ground where she fell from JJ’s grip. I let her look around before I answer her. She takes in the scene and the lines on her forehead instantly deepen as her eyes gloss over. “What happened?”
“I killed them all,” I say flatly. She grips her hands around my arms and buries her face in my chest as her entire body convulses in sobs against mine. “Reese, we need to talk.”
One of the men grabs a chair from behind him, lifts it over his head and places it down in front of me. I help Reese sit as she looks at each one of the men behind me. “Who are you?” she asks. She probably doesn’t recognize any them without their biohazard suits on. How would she know what they actually look like?
“They’re good guys,” I tell her. “They’re going to help us.”
“Help us?” she asks.
“Reese, you don’t remember what happened when you were first brought to Chipley, right?”
She shakes her head before whispering, “No.”
“You were my mom’s pincushion. She used you to create the Juliet toxin. It’s quite a long story, but—“
“These people all died because of me?” is all she can ask. She put two and two together much quicker than I would have.
“This is not your fault, not even a little bit. I’ll catch you up on the details later, but right now, a couple of these men are going to see if they can help you,” I tell her.
